Old Warhorse’s 2008 Reads
My pal Larry Gwin, the literary combat vet who apparently uses his time a lot more wisely than I do, reads and recommends from a wide bookshelf. They weren’t all published in 2008, that’s just when he read them:
Fiction:
1. Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts—Clearly the best novel I read this year and an unforgettable book. It’s big, more like autobiographical fiction, written by an Aussie who escaped from prison and ended up in Bombay, where he experiences many adventures, some uplifting, some brutal, as he falls in love with India, becomes entwined with the “Mombai Mafia,” and ends up fighting with the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan. The characterization is wonderful, and the narrator’s comments on life and what’s important will stay with me always. If you read one book on this list, read Shantaram.
2. Arundel, by Kenneth Roberts– The first in sequence of his “Revolutionary War Trilogy,” this rousing tale of Benedict Arnold’s doomed campaign to take Montreal during the first winter of the war kept me riveted to my chair. Almost as good as his other “greats”– Rabble in Arms and Northwest Passage.
3. The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett– Another big book, this takes you back to the building of a cathedral in England in the 1100’s, with a superb rendering of life back in the Dark Ages of England. Having read several of Follett’s page-turner “espionage novels,” this historical fiction surprised me, but it’s a super story rich with memorable characters.
4. Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger— This is a wonderful story about a young asthmatic raised in North Dakota by a loving (almost saint-like) father and two memorable siblings. Good against evil, kindness versus cruelty, it’s short, sweet, and memorable. This is Enger’s second novel. I hope he cranks out many more.
5. North River, by Pete Hamill— Another wonderful novel, this one’s about a WW-I combat veteran practicing medicine in New York City during the Depression. The doc is a really good man. The book is a beautiful
love story, too. I don’t believe Hamill could write a bad book. Highly recommended.
6. The Garden of Last Days, by Andre Dubus III– By the author of House of Sand and Fog, this story involves a stripper who takes her 3-year old daughter to work one night, and the disastrous consequences of that act. One character is an Al Queda terrorist about to board one of the flights that crashed into the World Trade Center, and Dubus’s rendering of a Muslim is extraordinary.
7. American Tabloid, by James Ellroy—Recommended by a creative writer friend, I took this big novel to the beach this summer, and found it almost too big, too confusing, and too much for me to digest. Ellroy’s brilliant, no doubt about it, but America during the ‘60’s was a tough time to describe. Characters like Howard Hughes, J. Edgar Hoover, JFK, Bobby K, and Jimmy Hoffa are intertwined with three fictional protagonists who are the beating hearts of the novel– former FBI or CIA agents turned rogue hit-men heroes. Really too much for my pea brain to grasp, but looking back on it, now, one hell-of-a-good novel. Thanks Campie!
8. The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky– I read this because it was touted by Paul Scott (author of The Raj Quartet) as the best novel ever written. I disagree. It’s a “big Russian novel” (to be redundant) centered around a case of patricide, and though the brothers are memorable, the dialogue and philosophical/religious discussions in the book are interminable. Very hard for me to get through it so I don’t recommend it, but the patricide trial at the end is entertaining. In a nutshell, this is a sort of “Russian who dunnit?”
9. Nature Girl, by Carl Hiaasen— Loved it and guffawed throughout! A perfect beach vacation read. Hiassen has both a knack for quirky characterization and a hilarious, if not bizarre, sense of humor. As good as, if not better than, his Skinny Dip.
10. Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories, by Tobias Wolff— A collection of his own short stories, chosen by the author. Very few of them stayed with me after I put the book down, but he’s still a good writer. (Crit adds: I didn’t read much this year, but I read Wolff’s In Pharoah’s Army a long time ago and remember it as an evocative and honest account of an unenthusiastic soldier’s service in Vietnam. It must be good because Amazon litsts exactly one copy available, paperback for $97.)
11. The Widow of the South, by Robert Hicks– I picked this up in Franklin, TN, where one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War was fought (November 30, 1864). The novel depicts aspects of the battle and its aftermath that are hard to imagine, but basically it’s a story about how the Confederate Cemetery there came into being. A haunting love story, as well.
12. Her Privates We, by Frederic Manning— According to Ernest Hemingway, this is “the finest and noblest book of men in war.” Well, maybe. It’s clearly “literature,” but also a very sad tale from WW-I (and heart-wrenching for any combat vet). Life in the trenches sucked, but the universal bonds between men at war came through loud and clear. Thanks, Peter.
Non-Fiction:
1. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, by Doris Kearns Goodwin—Highly recommended by several of you, this is an outstanding history of Abe Lincoln and his time as President. It’s a beautiful rendering of not only his character and political savvy, but it also covers his hopes, political aspirations and accomplishments, and those of each member of his cabinet. I learned more about Lincoln’s cabinet in this book than in any book I’ve read, and if there is any doubt in your mind about his rightful place in history, this should end it. Thanks to all who recommended it.
2. The Forever War, by Dexter Filkins– This combat reporter’s brilliant, well written work reminded me of Michael Herr’s Dispatches. It’s that good. Filkins writes of what he knows, and he’s reported from Afghanistan and Iraq in such a way as to make you scratch your head in wonderment why we’re there. He’s also a master of “the telling detail,” and I couldn’t put the book down (as depressing as it was, or might have made me). I’m sure history will judge it as one of the best books to come out of our recent tribulations in Southwest Asia. (Crit adds: this was one of the books I read this year. Ditto on everything Larry said, except the ”wonderment why we’re there” and “depressing” parts. Filkins stays neutral, and does an excellent job with the complexity of that, such that a book written before everything turned around in Iraq holds up. Highly recommended. Lacks some of the lyricism, imagery of Herr. More than makes up in depth of reportage. And like Herr’s book, honest. The towering book of these wars of ours to date.)
3. American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic, by Joseph J. Ellis– A superb explanation of the major characters and events that created our nation and its political character, including the revolution, the formation of political parties, the Louisiana Purchase, and the abject failure of our Indian policies. After biographies of our founding fathers, I found this work considerably more edifying as to the America we see today. An excellent work! (Crit adds: Sorry, can’t recommend this one by an otherwise excellent historian who lied about serving as a platoon leader in combat in Vietnam, to me and others. Ellis and some others have moved on. Call me petty, but I don’t get how someone who has lied about something like that gets to keep being a highly regarded, published professor of history.)
4. Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin– A mountain climbing enthusiast gets lost descending K-2 and finds himself in a tiny village in Northern Pakistan where his life changes forever. This has been on the best-seller lists for a year or so now, and it’s place there is well deserved. Building schools for young girls in Pakistan is the inspired work of a humble man, and having heard and seen Mortenson speak, he comes across as a living saint. Reading this will change your attitude about our presence in that region.
5. The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country, by Laton McCartney—One of the best history books I’ve read in years! Written by a Yale classmate, Layton brings the mismanagement and corruption of Warren Harding’s administration to life. I couldn’t put it down, and reading it made me appreciate how good we actually have it these days, and how bad it could actually get. Democracy is fragile, and we’re lucky ours still works. (Let’s keep it.) Thanks, Laton, for this superb book!
6. We Are Soldiers Still, by LTG Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway– this is a follow-up to their 1982 best-selling account of the Battle of the Ia Drang and covers their return trip to “the valley” (and other battlefields) in 1993. It’s a short book, reconciling our time in Vietnam, and particularly meaningful for those of us who went on that odyssey. It’s also a memorial to General Moore’s memorable life. His observations about war and leadership are worth a read.
7. Fusiliers: The Saga of a British Redcoat Regiment in the American Revolution, by Mark Urban– Another history, but one from the British point of view. Very interesting if you’re a war buff, and covers the battles fought by the Royal Welch Fusiliers, which served through the entire conflict, even when it’s commanding officer was back in England.
Memoir:
1. The Prince of Frogtown, by Rick Bragg– The last of his personal trilogy, this is almost as good as All Over But the Shouting. Bragg is one of the best writers I’ve ever read. His reminiscence of his alcoholic father is almost lyrical in its rendering. If you read All Over first (about his mother), and then Ava’s Man (about her father), you’ll appreciate Frogtown a little more (not that it couldn’t stand alone). A superb memoir.
2. Big Russ and Me: Father and Son–Lessons of Life, by Tim Russert– Maybe because I read it shortly after he died, I really liked this book– a most loving remembrance of his father and his impact on Russert’s wonderful (and all-too-short) career. He had to be one of the nicest guys and best TV journalist/reporters/anchormen I’ve ever seen or read about.
3. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, by Bill Bryson– An amusing story of Bryson growing up in the ‘50’s.” It took me back to “those days.”
4. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah– This was such a harrowing story I’m not really sure it’s true. This young man’s youth was so traumatized by war, killing, combat, and drugs that it’s hard to believe he could write accurately about it. Aside from that, it’s a heart-wrenching tale, and Beah apparently survived to recount it. Enough. (Crit adds: there has been a significant credibility dispute.)
Previously, A Combat Vet’s Reading List, Larry Gwin and other old soldiers, not yet faded away, zero in on war. Includes Gwin’s own history.
Bonus, Larry’s pals start weighing in:
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard - Millard writes a wonderful, detail-rich account of T.R.’s float down a previously uncharted tributary of the Amazon River in 1913, in which he battles nature in the extreme, and nearly loses. Mind you, T.R. was 54 years of age when he and his devoted son, Kermit, made this trip! T.R. is my favorite chief executive, and he approached this expedition just as he did the running of this country - with all of his heart and energy!
This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, by Drew Gilpin-Faust (President of Harvard University) provides a very thoughtful examination of how and why the War Between the States (as I refer to it) had such a lasting effect, to this day, on our country. Her writing has provided much fodder for my theory of DNA and inherited memory. I’m disgusted that this chapter in our nation’s history, the War Between the States, receives so little coverage in our elementary classrooms.
A great, timeless read is The Anabasis by Xenophon (obviously in translation unless you read Ancient Greek.) It is a tremendous small unit history of Greek mercenaries trying to escape from a hostile land under the most adverse of conditions and it is factual.
Youngblood Hawke by Herman Wouk — A big “they don’t write ‘em like that anymore” novel about a novelist, complete with backstabbing New York publishers, Hollywood agents, Broadway producers and other mid-century literati. And because it’s Wouk (who’s still with us at age 95!), it’s filled with unforgettable characters, chief among them a gifted headstrong Kentuckian with the determination to write into the wee hours every night (wish I had it!) despite incredible, self-inflicted hardship.
Your 2008 faves in comments.
Topics: literary
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 11:33 am on Monday, January 5, 2009
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